


It's Better This Way

by houdini74



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, M/M, Running Away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 16:31:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20781659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/houdini74/pseuds/houdini74
Summary: What if Patrick decided he couldn't wait for David after The Barbeque?





	It's Better This Way

**Author's Note:**

> There have been some great post-Barbeque fics lately and this just popped into my head. What if Patrick ran away (again)?

Patrick sets the last of the boxes in the car. Three of them haven’t even been opened since he moved here six months ago and he can’t remember what’s inside. Books, maybe? His alarm clock from college? The coffee mug that he used to keep on his desk at work? It doesn’t matter. He shoves the final box into the back seat, trying to jam all of the feelings that are chewing him up inside out of sight along with it so that he won’t have to deal with them. 

He stops at the store on his way out of town, dropping his keys on top of the paperwork he’s left for David. All David needs to do is sign the buyout agreement and take it to the bank so they can set up the payments. He’s been as fair as he can be, making sure David has what he needs to keep the store going. 

He wishes there was someone else who could help David with the business part of the store, but he knows there isn’t, at least not locally. He’ll be fine, he tells himself. All he needs to do is follow the plan that Patrick has set up and he’ll be able to manage. David is smart, he can do this without him. He flips the lock on the door of the store, pulling it closed behind him. It’s been six days since he’s talked to David, six days since David has been into work. He can’t stay. Not when it’s clear that it’s over between them.

Back in his car, he sits for a minute, his forehead pressed to the steering wheel. Even the car reminds him of David, of their makeout sessions, moments desperate for privacy, hands fumbling, lips seeking. He wrenches his thoughts away and starts the car. 

He doesn’t have a plan, doesn’t know where he’s going. He’ll drive until he can’t anymore and then maybe see if there’s a job somewhere in another town. It worked the last time. He winces to think what his parents will say when he has to tell them that he’s run away again, that he’s still searching for something that he can’t explain. Except this time he knows what he’s looking for and it’s getting further away with every kilometer that he drives. 

He’s twenty kilometers on the other side of Elmdale when his phone buzzes with a text. There’s a second text, then a third. Finally, the phone is quiet. He drives, the silence enveloping him.

Fifty kilometers later, he pulls into a roadside gas station. They have ice cream, which reminds him of David, so instead he buys a bag of chips and a Coke along with his gas. The phone taunts him from the passenger seat and he can’t ignore the unread texts any longer. 

**David:** Patrick, what did you do?  
**David:** Patrick?  
**David:** Where are you?

He’s reading the last text when his phone buzzes again.

**David:** I need you to come back.

He can’t stand the idea of reading any more texts from David, so he sends the shortest response he can think of, hoping it will be enough.

**Patrick:** It’s better this way 

The phone vibrates in his hand, making him flinch and he nearly drops it. He’s desperate to hear David’s voice but he doesn’t know if he can bear to talk to him.

“David.” It’s a whisper and his voice cracks on the word.

“How is this better? You’re not here and I need you. Maybe it’s what I deserve, but you can’t leave like this. I need you to come back. Please...Patrick. Tell me how this is bett—“ With an angry beep, his phone falls silent in his hand, the battery is dead. He could dig the charger out of whichever box it’s ended up in, but he can’t be bothered. He gets in the car and drives.

Ten kilometers.

Twenty-five.

Fifty.

Finally, he sees the sign he’s been watching for. It’s weathered, barely visible in the creeping darkness.

**Schitt’s Creek 5 km**


End file.
